County profile · official public datasets

Hopkins County, KY

251 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 10.4% rated Good, 80.5% Fair, 9.2% Poor.

251
Public bridges
10.4%
Good condition
9.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.

Hopkins County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

88th
of 120 on Poor share
9.2%
Poor-condition share
251
public highway bridges
1967
avg year built

Poor is an FHWA condition category from the lowest applicable component rating (4 or below), not a live crossing-safety or closure decision. Rankings cover counties with at least five public highway bridges.

Hopkins County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Hopkins County ranks #88 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.2%). Hopkins County, Kentucky contains 251 public highway bridges. Roughly 10.4% are rated “Good,” 80.5% “Fair,” and 9.2% “Poor.” Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below on the 0–9 NBI scale. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.

Responsible agencies inspect covered bridges on risk-based intervals under current NBIS rules and submit inventory data to FHWA annually. The list below shows every NBI-tracked bridge in the county. Use the “Sort by” controls to change the ordering, and click any row for its reported inspection date, traffic count, and condition fields.

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory. See methodology for full definitions.

Total bridges

251

Public highway bridges in Hopkins County

Good condition

10.4%

26 of 251 rated 7-9

Fair condition

80.5%

202 of 251 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.2%

23 of 251 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#88 of 120

Among Kentucky counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 251 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
10.4% (26)
Fair
80.5% (202)
Poor
9.2% (23)

Hopkins County's Poor-condition bridges carry 46,985 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,043 crossings a day against 3,786 for a Good-condition one. A Poor rating is a condition category, not a closure or a live safety judgement; it means the lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below.

Computed over the 251 of 251 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

64.5% of Hopkins County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

162 of the 251 bridges with a recorded construction year were built in 1974 or earlier. Age alone is not a defect: a well-maintained older bridge can rate Good, and 10.4% of this county's inventory does. Even so, this older cohort is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn, which is why the age profile below matters alongside the condition split above.

Cutoff derives from the 2024 release year minus a 50-year design life. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

One structure carries 64.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

EDWARD T BREATHITT over PENNYRILE PARKWAY, built 1968, carries 30,484 vehicles a day, the most of any Poor-rated structure here. The county's Poor-condition exposure is concentrated rather than evenly spread, so the 23-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 46,985 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Hopkins County's bridges were built

251 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 73 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1967, 11 years older than the Kentucky average of 1978.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

How Hopkins County compares with Kentucky's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Hopkins County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.2% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1967 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is 11 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 119 Kentucky counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Hopkins County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Daviess County 282 5.7%
Harlan County 252 15.9%
Hopkins County (this page) 251 9.2%
Ohio County 227 6.6%
Hardin County 223 4.5%
Calloway County 210 11%

Each share is of that county's own total tracked bridges; peers are the counties with 5 or more bridges whose inventory size is closest to Hopkins County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for Hopkins County, both outside Kentucky so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (251 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1967 here).

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 251 Good 26 Fair 202 Poor 23

Good-condition bridges (26)

CR 1333 Logan Rd

Good

Over: Jennings Creek

0.03 mi S Jct KY 70, Hopkins, KY

Built 2021 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 58

Ramp L

Good

Over: I-69

1.5 mi N of JCT US 41, Hopkins, KY

Built 2014 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 20,471

TERRY RD

Good

Over: UNNAMED STREAM

.1 MI- W JCT CR 5268, Hopkins, KY

Built 1997 Load: 29.7 t ADT: 10

BECKHAM ROBERTS RD

Good

Over: EARLE CREEK

0.1 MI NE of JCT KY 85, Hopkins, KY

Built 2020 Load: 30.1 t ADT: 50

US-62

Good

Over: POND RIVER

3.2 MI.East JCT KY 813, Hopkins, KY

Built 1999 Load: 31.1 t ADT: 1,028

Ramp M

Good

Over: I-69

1 mi N of JCT US 41, Hopkins, KY

Built 2014 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 20,471

KY-70

Good

Over: JENNINGS CREEK

.40 MI S.E. OF JCT KY 291, Hopkins, KY

Built 1974 Load: 35.8 t ADT: 512

KY-70

Good

Over: Sugar Creek

.9 MI E OF JCT KY 1337, Hopkins, KY

Built 2019 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 2,143

KY-2647

Good

Over: DRAKES CREEK

.1 MI. E JCT US 41, Hopkins, KY

Built 1995 Load: 39.8 t ADT: 113

New Salem Circle

Good

Over: Drainage ditch of RR

200 W Jct. US 41, Hopkins, KY

Built 2007 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 141

OLD MADISONVILLE R

Good

Over: I 69

.8 MILES EAST OF JCTUS41A, Hopkins, KY

Built 2002 Load: 40.1 t ADT: 4,354

Brown Badgett Loop

Good

Over: CSX Railroad

.1 mile from Hwy 1069, Hopkins, KY

Built 2013 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 272

US-62

Good

Over: BRANCH OF DRAKE CREEK

1.5 MI EAST OF JCT US 41, Hopkins, KY

Built 1934 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 3,070

WEST MOSS AVE

Good

Over: CLEAR CREEK

100 FT N.-SEBREE AVE, Hopkins, KY

Built 1990 Load: 43.3 t ADT: 1,003

I-69

Good

Over: OTTER CREEK

@ RAMP D.14 MI S - KY 260, Hopkins, KY

Built 1991 Load: 46.4 t ADT: 21,964

KY-70

Good

Over: Clear Creek

2.1 MI E OF JCT KY 1337, Hopkins, KY

Built 2020 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 2,143

CR1152

Good

Over: Flat Creek

@ jct KY813, Hopkins, KY

Built 2015 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 6,643

KY-109

Good

Over: TRADEWATER RIVER

1.5 MI S.E. OF JCT US 62, Hopkins, KY

Built 1950 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 1,139

Ky 70

Good

Over: Bratton Creek

.1 Mi. West of JCT KY 85, Hopkins, KY

Built 2005 Load: 50.6 t ADT: 4,384

I 69 exit ramp

Good

Over: Flat Creek

50 from ky 813, Hopkins, KY

Built 2016 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 1,603

CAL HAMBY RD

Good

Over: BUFFALO CREEK

1.4 MI E JCT KY 1338, Hopkins, KY

Built 1990 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 22

KY 262

Good

Over: Greasy Creek

2 mi W. OF JCT. US 41, Hopkins, KY

Built 2016 Load: 55.4 t ADT: 554

KY-2280

Good

Over: Rose Creek

1 MI S OF US 41A, Hopkins, KY

Built 2022 Load: 57.3 t ADT: 169

Ramp C to I-69

Good

Over: Flat Creek

Junction of Ky. 813, Hopkins, KY

Built 2015 Load: 59.6 t ADT: 1,885

KY-260

Good

Over: Otter Creek

.20 MI EAST OF PNYRL PW, Hopkins, KY

Built 2019 Load: 67.7 t ADT: 2,180

KY-109

Good

Over: FORK OF LICK CREEK

.95 MI SOU. OF JCT KY 70, Hopkins, KY

Built 1938 Load: 70.7 t ADT: 2,060

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.